A tragedy on adoption day, this story captures the horror of being left behind because someone else was jealous of you.
You are a foal. A tiny purple pegasus colt. You live at The Shelter, a biiiig nu howsie pwace outside of Brentwood, Wisconsin. Here, mummahs and babbehs live together! And while babbehs get adopted, it’s okay! Because everyone loves getting a new howsie!
“Wakies babbeh! It nyu bwite time! Wittwe hoomins cummin’ soon!” You pop up, scrambling over your two earthie sisters. You’d been waiting for so many forevers for this! The little humans always take fluffies to the best howsies! Sometimes, they’ll even take whole families! You just can’t wait! Your wings twitch the way they always do when you’re excited.
You strut over towards the nummie bowl for your pen. There’s ten mummahs each with a handful of foals of varying age. You’ve just switched over to kibble, and it doesn’t taste NEARLY as pretty as bestest miwkies, but you still like it!
You lean in to take a bite, and while you’re filling your mouth, something pushes your head down and bits of kibble go in your see pwaces and your smeww pwace! You cough and sputter and pick yourself up to see Fast Ricky. He’s a surly chubby unicorn and he always pushes you around! “Dummeh fwuffy. Ou tu dummeh fow nummies? Babbeh gu back to mummah, getchu miwkies.” His cronies laughed. “Ou onwy gunna get in da way anyway. Wittwe hoomins come an get Fast Wicky dis bwite time an weabe dummeh hewe fowebba.” You snorted at him. “Dummeh Wicky! Fwuffy gunna hab nyu howsie fow aww famiwy!” He charged you and headbutted you in your smeww pwace!
You spread your wingies to look big and scary. Then you reared up and dropped a few sorry hoofsies on him, and one of them hit him HARD on his horn. It gave you owwies, but hitting a unicorns horn gives them biggest dizzies and it looked like Fast Ricky had been drinking siwwy wawa! He was stumbling around yelling at you when the little hoomies started arriving on their big yellow metal munstah! “Hahahaha look at that one.” Yelled a hoomin. “Stupid dumbass can’t stand up. You gotta be careful not to get one like that, they kill themselves.”
“Nuuuuuuu…” Fast Ricky was coming back from his disorientation but it would be a minute. Youd really knocked him. His tuffies, babbehs about your size, didn’t want to look bad in front of hoomins, so they went off to chase a baww. You ignored stupid dummeh Ricky and focused on attracting attention to yourself and your sissies! And it worked! Both your sissies got a nyu mummah! She worked at a fluffcare but for hoomins, and your sissies were exactly what she needed! You and mummah were a little saddies to see them go, but mostly happy they were together. Now it was just you!
Meanwhile, a taller little hoomin with blue not-fluff was looking at…Fast Ricky! He’d picked him up, and that meanie Fast Ricky was pretending to be cute! It didn’t matter. You knew they’d just see him for what he was. He’d get hurties in the end.
“Hello?” You turned. A little mummah was looking at you. “I’m Penny! Are you a little wingie boy?” You almost tipped over, you were so excited! “Uh huh! Uh huh! Fwuffy am gud fwuffy! Babbeh hab twu wittwe wingies,” you said as you fluttered your sings, “and am wittwe cowt!” You gave a flourish with your front weggies as you plomped back on your haunches. It was adorable. You’d practiced.
“Oh you are just precious! I’m going to get you! Let me get the clerk!” Hooray! You ran back to tell Mummah. Little Hoomin day moves fast, so you want to make sure you say goodbye now! “Wastest babbeh am gud babbeh, an mummah wub suuuuuu muchies!” You tear up and your wings flutter. “Huuhuuu babbeh gunna miss mummah. Babbeh awways wub mummah. Babbeh nebba fowget bestest mummah.” You gave her your tightest huggie before scampering back to where the hoomin girl had picked you up. She was over summoning one of the nice ladies who worked at the shelter. Looks like Fast Ricky was here to see you off.
“Wicky weddy tu weabe wif hoomins?”
He snorts. “Ub cowse, dummeh.” Almost on cue, the blue hoomin came back. He was picking up Ricky when the funny hoomin from earlier walked up. “Nah Dave, don’t get that one. It’s like stupid or something. It was spinning around like it was drunk. It’ll just kill itself or fuck up your room.” The blue hoomin shrugged, and set Ricky back down.
Ricky was gobsmacked, and you stifled a laugh. “Ou fink dis am funny? Wike funy joke fow make gud waffies an hahahas?” You are about to respond when you feel a push from behind. It’s his tuffies. They’ve knocked you onto your tummy and they’re pinning you down! You squirm and buzz your wings at them. “Big dummehs! Git offa Fwuffy! Babbeh nee be cwean fow hab nyu mummah!” Ricky’s voice cuts through the grunting. “Nyu mummah wan wingie babbeh, dummeh. Ou am jus dummy eawfie babbeh. Nu speshuw.” What? That’s ridiculous. “Dummeh Wicky babbeh hab-”
No.
Something’s wrong.
Something’s grabbing your-
“NUUUUUUUUU!”
Oh…oh no! He’s trying to hurt your wingies! He’s using his teeth! Those are only for nummies! “Nuuuu! Hewp Fwuffy! Sabe fwuff-” You’re cut off by a grey earthie shoving his hoofsie in your moufie. Now you can’t call for help! All the while, it hurts so much! Oh no, is that…no! You can feel one of your wingies…go away? Then…then…
There are cracking sounds. It only takes a few moments for the shelter worker to cross the room and intervene. “WHOA! Hey cut it out!” You feel the weight that had been crushing you suddenly leave. You try to flutter your wings. They feel so icky, and you want them to go back to normal.
Huh. Can’t feel them. Can’t feel them…at all.
“Nuuuuuu! Wingies!!! Wicky take wingies! Babbeh nu am wingie babbeh nu mowe!” The little hoomin looks heartbroken. You are devastated, but you waddle over to the edge. “Huuuhuuuuuu babbeh hab suuuu many huwties. Hab wowstest wingie owwies, hab bigges’ heawt huwties…” You look up tearfully at the little hoomin. “Can…can nyu mummah gif huggies?” You floop your huggie arms out. “Huggies fow make babbeh feew bettah?” You brace yourself for her gentle touch, but she’s stopped.
“N…nyu mummah?” She blushes and twists her hair around her finger. “I…I’m so soooo sorry but…” She doesn’t want to say. Your face tells her you won’t understand if she doesn’t.
“I really want a pegasus.”
And with that, she’s gone. You’re numb. You feel nothing. You trudge back to mummah. She says something. You’re not sure what. You bury your little face in her fluff and weep. You had it. You had a hoomin mummah who was gonna love you and give you a name and a home. Now? You try to tuck your wings back to give yourself a huggy to feel better but…
Your sobbing slowly fades. Your tears replaced by slumber, your wings replaced by scabby stumps.